Hello everyone,

“Wine - A beverage made of the fermented juice of any of various kinds of 
grapes, usually containing from 10 to 15 percent alcohol by volume.”  I 
guess this definition covers most of the wine that is sold today.  Given 
this, why when I go to the Liquor Store (PA does not permit sales of 
alcoholic beverages in grocery stores) should I not purchase the biggest and 
cheapest bottle I can find?  It’s all the same, right?

“Honey - A sweet yellowish or brownish viscid fluid produced by various bees 
from the nectar of flowers and used as food.”  This is a basic dictionary 
definition of honey.  I would venture a guess that 95% of the global honey 
crop will fall into that definition.  Again, why would I not buy the biggest 
and cheapest jar I can find?  It’s all the same, right?

Much to the disappointment of the true connoisseur, there are individuals 
who will answer yes to all the above questions and they are quite happy 
knowing they got a good price. However, there are also a great number of 
individuals who would strongly disagree and do so every day by paying more 
for one type of wine/honey over another.  It is a matter of “taste”, and 
QUALITY of the product.

I totally agree with others on this list (Bill’s post should be placed in 
the special archives) that the Organic Honey label is quite misleading.  You 
cannot use standards for one part of agriculture and try to equally apply 
them to another.  I think a lot of it is, as Bob said, “all about the 
money”.  I really don’t want to debate the organic argument.  My point is 
about the quality of the honey we put in the jar and how it should be 
valued.  I believe that, just like wine, there can be a great difference in 
the honey on the shelf and it should be priced accordingly.  If a beekeeper 
works for one floral variety of honey, and keeps it as separated as possible 
from other varieties, and keeps the processing to a minimal, he/she can end 
up with a product that tastes different than something mass produced.  If 
consumers agree, they will pay more for it, as they should.  I am really 
bothered by someone marketing honey using some buzz words, (organic, raw, 
unheated), knowing full well it all comes from the same process as the stuff 
they sell to the packers.  That is truly about the money.

Quality honey should be something we all strive to produce.  Some beekeepers 
are really into honey contests.  For some it is fun to compete, but I don’t 
usually enter them for the same reason I am not into beauty pageants or 
showing animals.  The competition is fun, but in most cases it is not real 
world.  It is the best of the best and there is merit there and again it is 
fun to compete.  I think a more realistic contest would be for the judges to 
get samples of whatever is being judged by buying them unannounced.  Then if 
you win it really says something about your product.  What you put up for 
sale is truly the “best of the best”.

Comb honey is the way honey should be eaten.  Obviously, most consumers 
don’t want it that way so it is extracted and put in a jar.  In a lot of 
cases the honey that finally ends up in the jar is significantly different 
from where it started in the comb.  It’s been spun out, heated, filtered and 
blended with other honey.  I am not saying this is bad, just different.  
Some folks will argue there is no difference.  Maybe, but it does not really 
matter because there consumers at every level.  What I am really opposed to 
is someone trashing the other guy’s product.  If I think I have a better 
product I tell the customer what is good about my honey not what is wrong 
with someone else’s.

Consumers are fickle.  They want, what they want, when they want it.  The 
farmer’s market where I sell my honey is run by the State Dept of Ag.  It is 
advertised as having PA farmers.  Yet there is at least one complaint every 
week because no one is selling bananas.  I have folks who buy unheated honey 
from me and then use it for baking, or tell me they put it in the microwave 
when it crystallizes, yet they still insist on unheated honey.  The best one 
happened a few weeks ago.  I had a customer stop by the house to pick up 
some honey.  They were not from the area and had purchased our honey during 
a festival in the Fall.  People will return for something they like.  
However, they were really disappointed because we don’t live in a hundred 
year old farm house and my wife is not a “little old lady”.  They came right 
out and said this.

I think we have to strive to put out a quality product, be honest in what we 
say we are selling, and don’t try to make your product better by trashing 
another beekeeper’s product.  Just give the facts and let the consumer be 
the judge.

Ron

Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, PA

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